Gresat CD!
I'm so happy so many young folks have discovered Carlos. So much of today's pop music is simplistic with a particular void in great guitarists. Where is the next Clapton, Stevie Ray, Carlos,, Duane Allman? The answer is: there are none! If folks want to listen to a great guitarist they have to listen to artists who started in the 60s and 70s.

The great song "She's Not There" is done in a couple of versions on this album. Carlos absolutely OWNS this song. There's lots of other great songs too.

The dealer got this to me quickly and without issue.

The last good Santana album
Quick! Name me one difference between these allegedly live versions of "Carnival", "Let the Children Play", "Jugando" and their original versions! Now, they do rule, and they do represent some of Santana's best work in the pop, Latin, and jazz fields, so I won't complain. So now that your little pop quiz is out of the way, useful background info you probably already know. Half of this album was recorded in the studio, and includes songs such as a great hit cover of the Zombies' "She's Not There" (by the way, Santana doing the Zombies? How random is THAT?), mediocre late-'70s soul like "I'll Be Waiting" (AKA "I'll Be Around" with Latin guitar), and random instrumentals such as the smooooth "Dawn/Go Within" and the much funkier "Zulu", which is quite a cool lil' tune. But I assume the reason anyone REALLY bought this was because of the live segments (not LP, because the studio and live material are interspersed amongst each other weirdly and confusingly), seeing this was Santana's first live release in the States and all. The energetic version of "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen" is ace, of course, because it's hard to screw up Santana's famous version of that song. "Dance Sister Dance", despite having utterly stupid lyrics even by Santana standards (they chant the song's title a billion thousand times or so), has Santana Guitar Mojoness all over it. And it's got multiple parts, which is cool. AND Santana shows us just how long he can sustain notes. Damn long time, it turns out. "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)" is still one of the most beautiful guitar solos in history, "Soul Sacrifice" is still the most intense and best instrumental in Santana's catalog, and "Touissant L'Overture" still simply rules in its melodramatic awesomeness. In fact, I am of the opinion that it is the best Santana song in history. Yes, even better than "Oye Como Va". Yes, even better than "Open Invitation", and who can resist that pop-metal nugget? Everyone, that's who. And did you know that Santana was a year away from that tripe when they released this? Greed does very bad things to people. So, the downside is that the studio work is really disappointing, other than "She's Not There" and "Zulu" - "Flor D'Luna" essentially is just "Black Magic Woman", "El Morocco" is supposed to be crushing, butt-kicking rock, and between you and me Santana sucks at crushing, butt-kicking rock (as the world would soon learn the hard way), and "Transcendance" (an unfunny pun, or a spelling error?) is just meandering fusion with an irritatingly smooth vocal. Still, when I listen to this and think of future albums, I have to wonder where it all went wrong. Whatever happened, this is probably where you should get off the boat with Santana, because things were about to get really bad, really fast.
By the way, five stars for the live portions, and three for the studio. The live work, needless to say, takes up most the record.

Forget LOTUS; This Is Santana's Best Live Album Ever
Many people prefer LOTUS (and it's very good), but MOONFLOWER is the ultimate live Santana CD, and his best since SANTANA 3. This album combines a great live set with a studio version of "She's Not There" that turns the Rod Argent pop song into a Latin-soul-blues explosion, with Carlos Santana's explosive lead guitar solos blowing the song out of its past wistfulness into the type of thing to sing when you're in a bad mood. Carlos Santana's opposition to Indonesia's trumped-up 2005 drug-smuggling conviction of a young Australian tourist makes MOONFLOWER an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience.

Third star strictly for the red hot guitar playing
...some of the most accomplished, open, brilliant playing I have ever heard from Carlos! But what happened to the writing inspiration (help from fellow band members?)? The album is a hodge-podge, quite poorly produced as a whole and spotty (the several incomplete or awkwardly occurring fade-outs for instance), although the sound quality - I am referring to the original US LP set here - is generally very good. I do think the closing, live "Toussaint L'Overture" is outstanding, but like the other 3-star reviewer below, I don't like the sound of the rhythm section (to the exclusion of the hand percussionists). The drum kit sounds sluggish and "square" - listen to Michael Shrieve on "Lotus" and get a taste of what a drum solo piece can develop into when it manages to avoid, to quote Chad Wakerman, sounding like a circus act! Keyboardman Tom Coster, whom used to play with such genius feel with this band just a few years back, and his late-70s string box: THAT TONE can be so-o-o depressing... The live Black Magic Woman is also devoid of spirit and is peformed hastily.

But as most of you know already, the "She's Not There" remake is top notch. Santana's interventions here are so "ferocious" and demanding on his axe - he really sounds like he's mad at somebody! - that when he returns to the break he's all out of tune! No one should ever blame him for this though!

Solid, slick, professional
This album comes from a period in Santana's career where declining sales led him and the band to take their music in a more commercial, accessible direction. That's not to say that the band "sold out"; there are still long instrumental sections and flashy solos by Carlos and keyboardist Tom Coster. But the rawness of the early albums and the adventurousness of the early 70s period are gone, replaced by a more "professional" (for better or worse) approach.

About 40% of the album was actually recorded in the studio. In general this is above average for Santana of this period, and compares favorably to material on Amigos and Festival. "She's Not There", a cover of the classic Zombies tune, is nicely done. I also like the instrumentals, especially "Flor D'Luna".

The other 60% is live. It's not bad but not great. I'm not a big fan of Graham Lear's drumming on "Black Magic Woman" -- way too rockish and "square", unlike Michael Shrieve's slinky Latin groove on earlier versions. And this version of "Soul Sacrifice" is a pale shadow of either the studio version or the legendary Woodstock performance. The percussion section is definitely nowhere near what it was in the band's early days.

If you like Santana's mid-late 70s sound or live rock albums from that period, you will definitely want to pick Moonflower up (and will surely rate it higher than I did). If you prefer Santana's first three albums or the early 70s jazz-rock period, you may be disappointed. (Though I doubt you will feel you wasted your money.) If you're interested in picking up your first Santana live album, I would go for either the complete Woodstock performance (on the 2 cd reissue of the first Santana album), the 1971 Fillmore gig (on the 2 cd reissue of Santana III), or the 1973 live album Lotus. After you get those, check this one out.